PHILADELPHIA – Paul Holmgren made his move a little less than 24 hours before the final buzzer rang on the NHL trade deadline.

There was nothing impulsive about it. It wasn't a rushed decision, made as the pressure mounted from seeing little sand left in the hourglass.

Andrew MacDonald was the Flyers' primary target.

"We believe he's going to make our team better," the Flyers' general manager said of his new defenseman. "With an eye on the future, we have an interest in keeping Andrew longer term."

That, however, will cost him far more than the two draft picks it took to put him in a Flyers uniform for at least 20 games. Both sides hope it will be longer.

MacDonald, 27, is in line for his first big payday in the NHL. When he signed a four-year, $2.2 million deal with the New York Islanders, he wasn't an established player in the league.

Over the past two seasons he's made a name for himself, mainly by becoming the NHL's leader in blocked shots. His $550,000 cap hit is the lowest on the Flyers' roster.

Next year, it could be among the highest if he is re-signed. Both sides seem willing to make that happen.

"It's such a great team and organization, I think you have to be open to this," MacDonald said. "As of right now, I'm not thinking about it at all. It's been kind of a whirlwind."

Things got off on the right foot when MacDonald was traded and he got a call from Flyers captain Claude Giroux. That impressed MacDonald, who already had Philly as a top-three destination on his list as he approached unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career.

"It's a home run on our side of the coin," said Peter Cooney, MacDonald's agent.

"The beauty of Philadelphia is every year they're competitive in the playoffs and for the Stanley Cup."

That's something MacDonald isn't used to after playing 295 games across six seasons for the Islanders. He had 17 goals and 72 assists. This season, he was a minute eater for the Islanders in all situations. His 25:25 average ice time entering Wednesday's action was eighth in the NHL and more than any other Flyer.

In Philadelphia, he won't be relied on so heavily.

"We had some injuries and some guys had to play some bigger minutes and I was one of those guys," MacDonald said. "It's great to be able to get that kind of experience and play those kind of minutes and stand up for your team, but I understand that's not gonna be the situation as much here. I'll just do whatever they ask me to do."

One thing they will ask is for MacDonald to re-sign.

The question for the Flyers is what that will cost. New York Rangers blueliner Dan Girardi set the market for pending unrestricted free agent defensemen when he signed a six-year, $33-million extension last week.

Cooney declined to say exactly what he had in mind for an extension, but said he is "not afraid of a long-term deal" in the neighborhood of four to six years. The Flyers own MacDonald's rights until July 1.

"We've had some internal discussions," Holmgren said. "Andrew just got here today. He doesn't know a lot about the Philadelphia Flyers and the organization, what it's all about. Let him settle in and at some point we'll certainly have discussions."

The Islanders extended an offer to MacDonald's camp, reportedly four years and $16 million. MacDonald and his agent made a counter offer that the Islanders and their general manager Garth Snow declined.

They seemed content to test free-agency waters, but may forego that to re-sign with the Flyers. They'll have salary cap space next year with Andrej Meszaros traded to Boston and Kimmo Timonen likely to retire. Those two players had a combined cap hit of $10 million this season.

One thing that attracted MacDonald to the Flyers was the reputation of the organization, in particular chairman Ed Snider.

"He takes care of players like family, if they're deserving," Cooney said. "It's a real solid National Hockey League organization and one Andrew really is going to like."

The Flyers certainly like him. In games against the Islanders, Timonen said MacDonald stood out.

"He played with a lot of confidence," Timonen said. "Sometimes when you play against teams, you notice some players and I noticed him. He made nice plays and blocks shots, plays a lot of minutes. Good for us."

How good? Time will tell whenever Holmgren contacts Cooney to start the negotiations.

"The beauty is we've got a lot of time now," Cooney said. "Our door is wide open."